welcome to video game!!!!!! customize your character; but first, choose your gender:
in case anyone thought this was an exaggeration
TERA is such a bad joke of a game. And not only that, but female characters all wear super-skimpy outfits and lean way the hell over so that you can see their panties when they run.
I mean, nothing against fanservice (although I prefer mine a bit more equal-opportunity). This game, however, is just…tawdry. Like something out of a particularly bad adult manhwa.
Also, I remember a discussion in which the scummy fanboys broke out literally every scummy fanboy derailing tactic in the book (plus a Godwin or two and an accusation of “shaming” the characters). So…there’s also the matter of the brand of fan it attracts.
Ah, TERA Online. Once upon a time, I played (and enjoyed) the closed Beta, up to the point where I had to interact with a female NPC who literally wore a metal bikini (not chainmail, actual solid metal) whose breasts still swayed–with the armor.
I actually have a mixed attitude toward the designs in the game. On the one hand, it’s all very Male Gaze, creepy, and completely impracticalor physically impossible to wear into battle. On the other hand, some of their stuff is actually well-designed (i.e. actually makes use of design principles) and is nice to look at. It’s the kind of stuff I wouldn’t mind seeing at a Haute couture fashion show (though they can’t seem to design shoes for shit).
But the game isn’t Project Runway: TERA, unfortunately.
-Icy
I love how not only is @xylophil’s satire spot-on, but also that @dreamersollux easily found an official game promo pic of exactly what it’s making fun of.
There’s so many great concepts here that could inspire empowered heroes and spinoffs. Things could become so great if more creators looked to images like these for inspiration.
Honestly the first hint to me that this was couture and not a video game was the lack of unsupported balloon boobs. The second clue was that the costume seemed actually physically possible.
That and the metal undies aren’t a thong, because real models have real skin and hence need to fear chafing.
So despite how impractical haute couture is… it’s still ahead of video game armors. This is the world we live in.
In addition to the fashion post i feel it’s worth remembering that at least fashion still gives you the choice and you can absolutely get that warrior style if you want to and know where to look (designers listed in captions)
Not only does the fashion industry design better lingerie, they also design better warrior ensembles.
Contrast with the Empowered Woman design business, which churns out tons of nearly identical characters in similar variations of fantasy lingerie and lady villains in even skimpier attire.
Think of how awesome studios got to focus on creating cool and memorable designs instead of trying to outdo one another for finding convoluted ways to show off skin without getting a Nudity rating.
